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Frost Mage DPS Starter Guide - Shadowlands 9.0.5
By Preheat
Last updated
2021/03/09 at 12:42 AM
View Changelog
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Table of Contents
Guide Navigation
Welcome to our Frost Mage starter guide, which covers everything you need to start playing a new character in Shadowlands. While our other guide pages go into more individual detail, this simple starter guide covers all the basics in one place, whether you're a new Frost Mage, a returning player to Shadowlands, hardcore, or casual alike, it's the best place to get a beginners overview on the class. Included are basic talent builds, simplified rotations, stats, legendary recommendations, and more to get you started as quickly as possible.
Please keep in mind that this page is meant to get players started quickly as an introduction, and does not contain much in the way of detailed explanations, mechanics, competitive options, gearing, simulation comparisons, or nuance. For more in-depth information, including all those optimizations and more, check out the complete Frost Mage Guide pages linked in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page, and if you're leveling up in Shadowlands, you can take a look at our
leveling tips
.
Overview
NEW
NEW Best Covenant
Gear
Talent Builds
NEW Legendaries
NEW Twisting Corridors
NEW Conduits
NEW Kyrian
NEW Necrolord
NEW Night Fae
NEW Venthyr
Pre-Patch
Starter Guide
Rotation, Priority, and Abilities
Advanced Concepts
Stats
Consumables
Macros & Addons
WeakAuras
Common Terms
NEW Castle Nathria Tips
NEW Mythic+
Common Questions
NEW Simulations
About the Author
This guide is written and maintained by Preheat, a World First raider and founding member of
Complexity Limit
. Preheat mains Mage and has participated in the MDI and multiple Race to World First events over the past few years. He has also commentated multiple community events, such as the
Keystone Masters
and the
BDGG charity event
. For all things Mage, you can find him in his
Discord
, on
Twitter
, posting videos to
YouTube
, and streaming on
Twitch
.
Best Frost Mage Covenant
The Venthyr are the best Covenant for Frost Mages. The Venthyr's class ability,
Mirrors of Torment
, deals high damage and guarantees three activations of Frost's strongest proc (
Brain Freeze
). In addition its Signature spell,
Door of Shadows
, is excellent for repositioning.
Make sure you cast Mirrors of Torment on a mob that will live long enough to consume all three stacks (about 20 seconds).
For Mages who want to be able to change specs to Fire and Arcane, the Night Fae are a better choice, with a Covenant ability (
Shifting Power
) that is useful for all specs in all situations
except
single-target Frost.
Best Raid Covenants
Covenants
Rating
Best Soulbind
Kyrian
Great
Kleia
Necrolord
Great
Emeni
Night Fae
Mediocre
Niya
Venthyr
Excellent
Nadjia
Best Mythic+ Covenants
Covenants
Rating
Best Soulbind
Kyrian
Low Keys
: Mediocre
High Keys
: Poor
Kleia
*
Kleia
*
Necrolord
Low Keys
: Decent
High Keys
: Decent
Emeni
Night Fae
Low Keys
: Excellent
High Keys
: Decent
Korayn
Venthyr
Low Keys
: Decent
High Keys
: Excellent
Draven
**
* Only when you can unlock
Pointed Courage
. Otherwise, use
Pelagos
or
Mikanikos
.
** Only when you can unlock
Built for War
. Otherwise, use
Nadjia
.
Best Frost Mage Covenant
Kyrian Frost Mage GuideNecrolord Frost Mage Guide
Night Fae Frost Mage GuideVenthyr Frost Mage Guide
Best Frost Mage Legendaries
For Raid, the best Frost Mage Legendary is
Slick Ice
for Single Target,
Freezing Winds
for 2-3, or
Glacial Fragments
for more.
The choice of legendary here heavily depends on fight design.
Slick Ice
is our best Single Target legendary, especially with a high-rank
Icy Propulsion
Conduit.
Cold Front
,
Expanded Potential
and
Disciplinary Command
have gained value but still fall short.
Due to buffs in 9.0.5,
Freezing Winds
is now our best option for cleave fights with two to three targets,
Glacial Fragments
is a great choice for fights with three or more targets. If you like multi-speccing, consider crafting
Disciplinary Command
- it's a strong effect for Frost and it is now best for Fire as well.
For Mythic+, the best Frost Mage Legendary is either
Freezing Winds
or
Glacial Fragments
depending on the average pull size.
Cleave and AoE dominate Mythic+, so we want to pick a legendary favouring that.
Freezing Winds
or
Glacial Fragments
are going to be our go-to options since they both excel with cleave an AoE.
Freezing Winds
was already performing well in higher keys or dungeons with lower average pull sizes, but the buff coming in 9.0.5 I think it will become the standard.
Glacial Fragments
is still very strong where the average pull size is much higher.
Slick Ice
deals great single-target damage, but is terrible outside of that niche, so not worth considering for M+.
Triune Ward
buffs
Ice Barrier
to have all the barrier effects and increased absorption. Neat idea but offers no offensive capabilities. This legendary is very strong for PvP.
Glacial Fragments
for AoE and Mythic+
Freezing Winds
for Cleave.
Slick Ice
for pure single target.
Triune Ward
for PvP.
If you plan to make both, remember that you don't have to upgrade them at the same rate. I recommend crafting
Freezing Winds
first, as it is generally most useful.
Frost Mage Legendaries Guide
Best Frost Mage Talents
This is a well rounded talent build and one of the most commonly-used builds by Frost Mages. The setup can handle almost anything, but you can find a more in-depth look at individual talent swaps and situational recommendations on the
Frost Mage Talent Guide
.
Frost Mage Talents Guide
Frost Mage Stat Priority
Frost Mages primarily favor Critical Strike and Haste. Find out more about how stats work, including sample stat weights and scaling plots in the
Stats Guide
, or get an overview of gear to look for from dungeons and raids in the
Frost Mage Gear Guide
.
Critical Strike (to ~22%)
Haste
Versatility
Critical Strike (from 22 to 33.33%)
Mastery
Critical Strike (after 33.33%)
Frost Mage Stats Guide
Frost Mage Enchants and Consumables
Cloak:
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Avoidance
or
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Speed
Bracers:
Enchant Bracers - Eternal Intellect
Chest:
Enchant Chest - Eternal Insight
or
Enchant Chest - Sacred Stats
(cheaper)
Weapon:
Enchant Weapon - Sinful Revelation
or
Enchant Weapon - Celestial Guidance
Ring:
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Haste
or
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Critical Strike
depending on Crit
Recommended gem:
Quick Jewel Cluster
or
Deadly Jewel Cluster
depending on Crit
Recommended weapon Buff:
In Shadowlands weapon oil is back.
Shadowcore Oil
is the prefered choice for Frost Mages.]
Recommended potions:
Potion of Spectral Intellect
/
Spectral Flask of Power
are generally your best combination.
Make sure to always have
Spiritual Healing Potion
on hand to use when you are low on health.
Frost Mage Enchants Guide
Best Frost Mage Rotation
This is a simple rotation for Frost Mages. More information using talent variations, cooldowns, and other advanced tips can be found
in the Frost Mage Rotation Guide
.
Use
Icy Veins
and
Frozen Orb
on cooldown.
Cast
Frostbolt
for
Fingers of Frost
and
Brain Freeze
procs.
Consume Brain Freeze with
Flurry
and then 2 x
Ice Lance
. Do this immediately after casting Frostbolt.
Use
Fingers of Frost
procs with
Ice Lance
.
Continue to cast Frostbolt, using Flurry, and Ice Lance to consume Brain Freeze and Fingers of Frost. If they proc together, prioritize Brain Freeze.
Frost Mage Rotation Guide
Back to Top
Our Frost Mage guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on
View Changelog
at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Frost Mage guides for , make sure to browse the
Navigation Bar
below, and our list of
Related Guides
just beneath the
Table of Contents
.
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